In what order did Jesus find his apostles?

Answer 1

It may not be possible to identify the order in which all the apostles were called, but each gospel gives some information about who may have been among the first:

In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee when he called the brothers, (1 and 2) Simon and Andrew. Afterwards he called (3 and 4) James and John, sons of Zebedee, and subsequently (5) Matthew. After this all twelve are listed.

Similarly, in Mark's Gospel, Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee when he called the brothers, (1 and 2) Simon and Andrew, and soon afterwards (3 and 4) James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were mending their nets. The next disciple was (5) Levi, whom some regard as the same person as Matthew in Matthew's Gospel. In chapter 3, Jesus chose twelve disciples of all those who followed him.

In Luke's Gospel, Jesus met (1) Simon Peter in a house in Capernaum, where he healed Peter's mother-in-law. Later, he saw Simon Peter with (2) James and (3) John, sons of Zebedee, on fishing boats together, but does not seem to have called them. The next disciple was (4) Levi. In Luke chapter 6, Jesus was on a mountain when he chose twelve of those who were with him, to be his apostles. This is the only mention in Luke's Gospel of Andrew.

In John's Gospel, Jesus had returned to the place of his baptism, traditionally by the River Jordan, when John the Baptist pointed him out to two of his disciples, one of whom was (1) Andrew. The disciples followed Jesus and later Andrew called his brother, (2) Peter, to follow Jesus. The next disciple was (3) Philip, then (4) Nathaniel.